In the World

Nelson Mandela , 93, former president of South Africa,was reported to be in good health after his hospital stay. (AP, File)

Posted: February 27, 2012

Mandela released from hospital

JOHANNESBURG - Former South African President Nelson Mandela was discharged from a hospital in good health Sunday after a laparoscopy, a surgical procedure in which a camera is inserted into the body to check abdomen or pelvis problems.

President Jacob Zuma said in a written statement that Mandela was sent home after the procedure revealed no serious health problems. Mandela, 93, had spent the night in the hospital.

South African officials did not detail the reasons for the laparoscopy other than to say it was a related to a abdominal condition that caused Mandela some discomfort.

- Los Angeles Times

Australia's Gillard wins a key post

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard defeated predecessor Kevin Rudd in a leadership ballot, leaving her to unite the ruling Labor Party and revive its lagging poll ratings before elections due in 2013.

Gillard won 71 votes to Rudd's 31 in Monday's ballot of party lawmakers, Labor member Chris Hayes said. Rudd, who resigned as foreign minister last week as he sought to reclaim the nation's top job, vowed before the vote to give Gillard his "unequivocal support" should she prevail.

After weeks of political infighting, Gillard needs to heal the party and rebuild public support as her government tries to implement unprecedented taxes on mining profits and carbon emissions that the Liberal-National opposition says it would scrap.

- Bloomberg News

Islamist parties to form alliance

ALGIERS, Algeria - Algeria's main Islamist parties have agreed to run as an alliance in May's parliamentary elections, boosting their chances of taking the largest number of seats, a party leader announced Sunday.

The alliance of three of the country's fractious Islamist parties increases the likelihood of Algeria's following in the steps of three other North African countries where Islamists have recently triumphed at the ballot box.

Elections held after the pro-democracy uprisings that have swept the Middle East in the last year have resulted in Islamist-dominated parliaments in Morocco, Tunisia and especially Egypt. - AP

Azerbaijan honors victims

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Tens of thousands of people marched through Azerbaijan's capital on Sunday to commemorate the killing 20 years ago of hundreds of people during a war with Armenia over disputed territory.

President Ilham Aliyev led the march in Baku, which ended at a monument to the victims of the Khojaly massacre. Officials said 60,000 people took part. Tens of thousands also turned out for rallies in Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan. By Azerbaijan's count, 613 residents of Khojaly were killed on Feb. 26, 1992, after fleeing the town as it fell to Armenian troops.

Armenians have not denied the attack, but insist the death toll is exaggerated. Turkey and Azerbaijan have called for world recognition of the killings as a crime against humanity. - AP